Increase Space With A Mezzanine

Save Money, Increase Space With A Mezzanine

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Mezzanine systems in a warehouse environment are an effective way to increase storage and/or work space by allowing you to utilize the unused vertical space that already exists in your facility. After the mezzanine is constructed, the space beneath it is also accessible and can be used for storage or other purposes.   A warehouse mezzanine is an easy way to add storage space, office space or even a showroom.

Benefits Of A Mezzanine

Stay In Your Space

Space constraints may have you thinking that relocating to a bigger building or adding on to your current is your only option. Well, with the help of KMH mezzanine professionals, you can have a mezzanine designed and customized for your warehouse and forget about the rest. The cost of the system pales in comparison to moving your entire business elsewhere or having to build on to your existing facility.

Affordable Second Floor

One of the major benefits and ultimate uses of these mezzanines is to create a new floor within the same environment. Instead of constructing an entirely new floor, which comes along with additional costs that can become unfeasible (i.e, piping, heating, cooling) a Mezzanine solution maximizes resources.

Customizable

Not only can a Mezzanine be designed to be movable, it can also be customized to fit any area. The use of mezzanines is not restricted to storage space – you can get very creative. The possibilities are virtually endless. It is advisable to discuss your needs with a KMH consultant before purchasing a mezzanine, so that they can advise on the best type of material and other details.

One Time Investment

The “one-time investment” factor comes into play through the reality of requiring minimal repairs in order to get the job done right. The does not require a lot of repairs over a long period of time, and gives an easy upgrade without taking a lot of time.

Affordable

They are an economical option that pay for themselves within a few years. Mezzanines are far cheaper than moving to a new building because of space issues, and much less stressful, too.

To make an appoint with us to learn more about your Mezzanine options you can locate your closest KMH branch here http://www.kmhsystems.com/contact-us/  or call: 888-564-7978

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST QUOTE OR TO HAVE A REP CONTACT YOU
Blue Forklift Safety Light

Blue Forklift LED Safety Light

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The innovative blue safety light helps avoid forklift/pedestrian collisions. In the USA alone, there are 19,000 forklift/pedestrian accidents each year. Sure backup alarms are effective, but what happens when employees are listening to music, talking on cell phones, or staring at the ground?

That’s where the blue safety light can help! Install the blue light on the rear portion of the forklift’s overhead guard. A focused beam of blue light will appear on the ground behind the forklift.

Why consider Blue Safety Lights?

  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 110,000 forklift related accidents of which 85 fatal accidents occur every year.
  • $135,000,000 immediate costs are incurred due to forklift accidents each year.
  • Despite all efforts to promote workplace safety, an average addition of 94,750 forklift accidents are reported every year.
  • Someone in US is killed in a forklift related accident once approximately every 3 work days.
  • Nearly 80% of the forklift accidents involve a pedestrian.
  • One in six of all workplace fatalities in US is forklift related.
  • According to OSHA, approximately 70% of all accidents reported could have been avoided with proper safety.

Features and Benefits:

  • Provides visual warning for pedestrians to promote greater safety
  • Wide variety of applications from 12 to 48 volts
  • Bright blue spot beam projects pattern clearly onto the ground
  • UV resistant polycarbonate lens
  • Rugged solid state LECs can withstand shock and vibration
  • Longer-lasting LEDs mean never having to replace another bulb
  • Tough aluminum housing helps prevent rust and corrosion
  • Universal Mount

Want to learn more? Visit our Blue Safety Light page or contact us!

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST QUOTE OR TO HAVE A REP CONTACT YOU
Workbenches & Tables

Using Workbenches & Tables – Increase Productivity

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Everyday functions of most warehouses and industrial operations falls within the realm of manual material handling–constant lifting, bending, stretching, reaching, pushing and otherwise moving materials by people. Everything from moving cartons, picking orders, reaching for packing materials and other activities. Manual material handling contributes to musculoskeletal disorders, with more than 500,000 reported annual cases of strains and stress in shoulders, backs, arms, and legs.

While you can never eliminate it, you can reduce the worst aspects of it. Using workbenches and tables will alleviate many of the problems for your team and increase productivity.

Utilize Benches & Tables

A great way to find where you can utilize benches and tables and reduce injuries and lost production is to walk your plant floor and look for awkward postures. Are people stooping or stretching to reach an area, pick an order or assemble kits? Monitor your workflow for repetitive motion. If a task requires reaching, carrying things or lifting them all the time, it’s worth investing in more effective, ergonomic changes. Heavy duty lifting and manipulation of heavy loads is a workers’ compensation case waiting to happen. Are loads such that anyone in the plant can execute the job? Make as many changes as you can so just about anyone can physically handle every job. This creates tremendous labor flexibility.

Modern research tells us sitting at a desk all day is hard on people. Any fixed position or posture, including standing on a plant floor in the same position, is ergonomically unsound.

Increases Pick Speeds

Delivering goods to pickers increases pick speeds, but one of the reasons speeds are increased is that workers aren’t wearing themselves outreaching deep into shelves or trotting around a warehouse. This also can reduce the chances of scrapes, trips, and bumps.

Raise & Lower Loads

Utilize workbenches and tables for lifting equipment to raise and lower loads rather than using muscle power. Scissor lifts are also ideal as are hoists, balancers, and other powered methods to manipulate loads. You trade flexibility for ergonomics, but you can recoup that investment with a significantly fresher, less stressed, more energetic workforce and strain/injury reduction.

Healthy Ergonomics

Rotating tables, pallet positioners, carts and other equipment foster healthy ergonomics by delivering the load to the worker. A rotating/lifting combination that always presents workers with the load in the best possible position speeds up the picking process. Install tilters to help dump or load bulk loads so they are easier on the people processing them, rather than reaching into deep bins for components.

Reduce Reaching

Platforms, steps, and ladders reduce reaching. Portable or fixed work platforms helps workers maintain more strength and balance. This means that workers should grasp loads 30 to 40 inches from her standing surface. Adjustable height workstations are another way to keep the load in the power zone.

Reduce Injury

Workbenches and tables reduce the risk of strain related injury. This helps you fulfill your legal responsibility for providing a safe working environment while increasing your ROI on every pick.

Contact us today to find out how we can help you choose the best benches and tables for your facility.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST QUOTE OR TO HAVE A REP CONTACT YOU
Order Picking Productivity

5 Ways to Improve Order Picking Productivity

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Beyond running diagnostics or shifting your warehouse design around, sometimes it can be helpful to have an open and honest discussion with everyone on your staff. Everyone from your temp workers, full time operators, managers, directors, all the way up to VPs, need the ability to communicate where they see ways to improve your bottom line. Your employees will not only tell you about problems that you may not know exist, but may solve them just as quick and often in the same meeting.

Here are five ways to consider improving your picking productivity once you’ve identified the problems with your staff. You can review the potential ROI to understand which system will work best for your operation, discuss them with your team, and since they will be the ones ensuring the speed and accuracy of the systems you choose, decide which ones will benefit you the most.

1. Parts images and photos on the PC monitor when directing the picker. Many of today’s WMS, WCS and inventory management and picking software solutions allow organizations to include images of items in their database.

2. The use of pick-to-light and put-to-light indicators can be implemented in many processes to minimize errors. To make this cost effective, the integration of goods-to-person technologies (such as carousels, VLMs, shuttle technologies, ASRS, etc.) can be used. Items are delivered to the operator at an ergonomic height, and the lights tell the operator where and how many items to pick and put into the correct container.

3. Slotting your inventory will provide great benefits by increasing throughput and providing increased accuracy levels. The benefits of an effective slotting strategy include; increased throughput, improved labor utilization, reduced injuries, better cube utilization, and reduced product damage.

4. Kitting could be another option, though in some cases, while knitting does increase inventory levels, the variables may create too many kit options. If you often ship in kits, your team can help design the most cost effective kits to create and offer your customers. This can be either virtually on your marketplaces – a listed bundle comprised of disparate parts –– or physically in your warehouse – products bound together and stored in one location. The beauty of product kitting is that it allows you to sell kitted items and individual component items simultaneously.

5. Voice picking comes into play when you have a large number of SKUs in shelving or rack not using goods to person technologies. The audio directs the picker to the correct location and quantity. The picker then verbally verifies the SKU and quantity. The throughput levels often increase slightly with this technology, but your accuracy will often increase much more.

For example, Canadian retailer London Drug tossed its paper-based pick systems and turned to voice to help process SKUs of varying shapes and sizes—the result has improved productivity and 99.97% order accuracy using voice technology in its operations.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST A FREE OPERATIONAL AUDIT OF YOUR COMPANY
Automated Warehouse Systems

Why You Should Automate Your Warehouse

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Automated warehousing applied to part or all of a distribution center can provide a wide range of benefits including space savings, lower building costs, improved productivity, more efficient material flow, less people, safer operations, reductions in inventory, increased reliability, reduced running costs, better ROI and lowest lifecycle cost.

Automated warehousing systems provide the maximum possible usage of available floor space and building height. In some cases, this enables companies to increase storage capacity by up to 400% compared to conventional forklift operations. Where space is limited, switching to an automated warehousing solution can free up additional space for other activities, such as manufacturing.

Improved Productivity

Automated warehousing systems offer tremendous performance in terms of productivity. Not only do they work faster than forklifts and narrow aisle trucks, they can also operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, keeping product on the move.

Automated warehousing systems can also enhance the efficient flow of materials through a manufacturing facility or distribution center. By integrating the system with production materials handling systems, raw materials, tools, parts, work-in-process, and finished goods can all be efficiently delivered to where they are required.

The systems can be set up to provide a buffer storage function on assembly lines, and can service multi-floor applications. By using automated storage and retrieval machines the need for drivers/operators is eliminated. Compared with conventional methods, and calculated over the life of the machine, savings can be substantial and the ROI can be highly attractive.

Reduced Inventory

With integrated location and inventory control software combined with faster throughput, it is possible to reduce stock levels. Inventory can be accurately tracked at all stages, maximizing stock availability. Stock control can also be improved, with the software enabling goods to be automatically picked on a First In First Out basis , or by ‘use-by’ date etc.

Once the automated warehouse has been set up, ongoing operating costs are minimized. Typical warehousing costs involving refueling or recharging of batteries, regular mechanical and electrical maintenance, and staffing, lighting are also minimized.

KMH offers a free Operational Audit which can give you the most efficient and cost effective evaluation of your operation. We provide you with all the available ways to automate your facility and get the most out of your current budget while still optimizing your ROI.

    Heavy Equipment Rentals

    Heavy Equipment Rental Benefits

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    Renting construction equipment has increased in popularity for a variety of reasons. A few key contributors to the growth of equipment rentals include the rising cost of purchasing equipment Here are some benefits that your company will see if you decide to begin renting construction equipment.

    Avoid the Initial Purchase Cost

    Purchasing brand new construction equipment is extremely expensive and can make a huge impact on how your company’s budget. Renting or leasing equipment avoids the upfront costs associated with purchasing, and allows businesses to better manage your financial resources.

    Less Maintenance and Repair Costs

    When you own equipment, you must consider the cost of maintenance and repair. Although maintenance and repair is still important for rental equipment, costs will be lowered compared to purchased equipment. With rentals, the time and labor costs associated with maintenance and repairs are lower and more manageable.

    No More Market Fluctuation

    The construction world is dynamic and many things influence the market. Renting equipment cushions your company from unpredictable downturns that may arise. Rather than committing to a piece of equipment, leasing allows for options that make it easier to ride the rise and fall of market forces.

    No Depreciation Costs

    When you own machinery, you incur considerable depreciation costs. Reselling equipment, and maintaining it requires quite a large investment on top of your upfront purchase. Although all companies operate differently, renting construction equipment avoids loses associated with depreciation.

    Project-Specific Rentals

    Typically, construction companies are balancing many projects at once. Renting specific pieces of equipment for particular projects eliminates any logistical delays.

    Solve Storage Issues

    Equipment that is not stored properly, or exposed to harsh weather condition may depreciate faster. You can negotiate with vendors or suppliers regarding how long you need a rental, and your company may not worry about long-term storage. This saves you time needed to plan out the logistics, as well as the cost of storage.

    Transportation Logistics

    Transportation can take a long time, affecting the productivity and efficiency of a project. Renting allows you to avoid this burden and provides a more reliable equipment option by keeping pieces onsite.

    Let us give you all the information you need to run on any budget and still get the equipment you need!

    CLICK HERE TO REQUEST YOUR EQUIPMENT RENTAL TODAY
    KMH Systems Online Store

    Shop With Us Online

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    Nowadays, shopping online has become more like a daily activity for virtually everyone looking to buy something with access to the internet irrespective of location. But, despite its almost unnoticeable flaws, buying online has many advantages we should know.  You should take advantage of online shopping for a variety of reasons such as, saving time – you do not have to drive anywhere, you can often purchase an item(s) with just a simple click of a button. You can stay within the comfort of your home or office and find that perfect item no matter if it is rare or readily available.

    At KMH we offer you the ease of getting everything you need shipped right to your door.  Our Allied catalog not only offers everything from your front door to the back dock, we have a variety of each item so you can tailor your order to fit each one of your needs.

    Why Shop Online With Us?

    Convenience:

    You don’t have to wait in a line or wait till the shop assistant helps you with your purchases. You can do your shopping in minutes even if you are busy, apart from saving time and avoiding crowds. Online shops give you the opportunity to shop 24 x 7 and also reward you with deals.

    Better Prices:

    You can save by buying online and not have to pay for the marketing and other promotions most retail stores have to build into their pricing.

    Fewer Expenses:

    Many times when you opt for conventional shopping you tend to spend a lot more than the required shopping expenses, on things like eating out, traveling, impulsive shopping etc.

    Comparison of Prices:

    Online shopping make comparison and research of products and prices possible. Online shopping our allied catalog gives you the ability to review what we offer with other vendors.

    Fast Shipping:

    You can see what you want and know it is on the way to you in record time by shopping online with us. We make it easy to browse our catalog and order everything you need so it can arrive quickly to you.

    Convenience:

    It is very convenient to be able to do all your shopping from one spot – your couch or office!

    Cost Savings:

    With ever-increasing gas prices, shopping online saves you the cost of driving to and between stores as well parking fees. You will also save time by avoiding standing in line, particularly around the holidays, when stores are very busy.

    Variety:

    The internet provides sellers with unlimited shelf space, so they are more likely to offer a wider variety of products than they would in brick-and-mortar stores.

    No Pressure:

    In our store, there is no salesperson hovering around and pressuring you to purchase an item.

    Easy Comparison:

    Shopping with us online eliminates the need to wander from store to store trying to compare prices.

    CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING ONLINE
    Cantilever Rack

    Choosing The Right Racking Solution

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    Before your company spends significant chunks of the budget for a system that isn’t a true solution, KMH can help you choose the best racking system for your company.

    What we help you consider and factor into your decision:

    – Your max spend for a racking solution
    – The total floor space and ceiling height available for pallet storage
    – Number of different products for which you need rack storage
    – Frequency with which you need to access products in your racks
    – Shelf life of your products
    – What kind of truck access you’ll need including lift height

    Below are a few racking options you can consider in deciding which one is right for your needs…

    Cantilever Racks

    Cantilever is defined as “a beam anchored at one end only”. The load is held by the arm which transfers the load to the supporting upright beam/base. Cantilever racking is primarily used for storage of bulky, over-sized, long loads such as timber, plasterboard, steel trusses & piping, PVC carpet.

    Drive In Pallet Rack

    Drive In Pallet Racking is installed in warehouses and distribution centers that need a cost effective, high density storage solution for their pallets and products. Because of its design, drive-in pallet rack is a first in, last out (FILO) storage system. Drive in racking is best used with a large quantity of like-products that are not time sensitive, to best utilize warehouse space. Warehouse access aisles are kept to a minimum with drive-in rack, often allowing users to achieve double or more storage capacity.

    Push Back Rack

    Push back racks allow for fork lifts to deposit loads more quickly. The newest loads push the previous items back up the incline to instantly create the space needed to keep items safely on the rack without the need to remove items or reorganize your racks to make room. It also cuts down on travel time for the forklift operator, meaning your operations will flow more efficiently and place less stress on your workers and equipment.

    Pallet Flow Rack

    Pallet flow rack systems act as a sort of pallet conveyor for your warehouse. Pallets are loaded from one side and picked from the other, while the rest of the work is done by heavy-duty rollers. This has the potential to save both time and labor. Pallet flow rack systems also save time by offering immediate access to every product stored on the system, meaning you won’t have to pull any pallets simply to gain access to other pallets.

    Contact us for a FREE Operational Audit to make the best choice and investment for your company!

    CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR RACK SURVEY
    Lighting Surveys

    Benefits of a Lighting Survey

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    KMH has helped hundreds of companies save thousands of dollars a year with lighting surveys and retrofitting projects that end up paying for themselves.  The development of LED technologies, manufacturer rebates and government incentives adds to your bottom line and new lighting fixtures have proven to have greater energy efficiency, while reducing maintenance costs due to their longer lifespan.  LED technologies have come down in price, accelerating payback expectancy and helping to make retrofit projects more cost efficient altogether.

    5 Reasons For Your Lighting Survey

    Energy Savings

    With advancements in technologies, today’s lighting retrofits can create energy savings ranging anywhere from 40% to 90%, depending upon the type of project.

    Maintenance Savings

    Modern technologies are fostering significant maintenance savings due to the extended life or “burn hours” of the new lighting. Many LED technologies exhibit a rated life ranging from 50,000-100,000 hours, more than three times the life of the old T-12 and HID technologies of the past.

    Improved Aesthetics

    Today’s latest-generation lighting technology delivers a better color rendering mix, better uniformity and spread of light, and better lumen maintenance (i.e., light levels will hold at higher levels for longer periods of time).

    Better Security

    Employee safety improves when areas are optimally lit with better lighting technology.

    Environmental Sensitivity

    Unlike Metal Halide, High Pressure Sodium, and T-12 lighting, modern LED lighting technologies eliminate mercury from facilities, creating a safer environment and “go green” image for businesses.

    How We Help You…

    Our team will identify those facilities in your real estate portfolio where lighting retrofit projects are the most needed with a comprehensive survey of all facility lighting, interior and exterior.  We will ensure that you’re leveraging all available rebates.

    Check warranties, and leverage them where and when you can. Upon completion of a lighting retrofit project, make sure that you’re taking advantages of the great warranties that come with so many of today’s lamps and ballasts.

    To schedule your lighting survey fill use the button below on this page or call: 888-564-7978

    CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR SURVEY
    Return on Investment

    Free Ways to Increase your ROI

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    In order to calculate a return on investment in your warehouse, it is critical to evaluate your work flow process. Is there a process that results in frequent errors or causes slow downs in the follow on processes? Identifying and correcting these conditions first will increase your ROI quickly, and have significant impact on your business operations. The goal here is to take a small amount of time to have a significant improvement in your profits.

    First, in your receiving area, examine how many receivers you have. Lower costs by calculating if you can decrease labor to your busiest time slots. How many hours per week are spent on receiving? Streamline the workers to the peak receiving times and use a skeleton crew during slower times.

    Ask Your Team For Suggestions

    The people doing the work can see improvements on a daily basis and come up with ideas that can help them get the work flow moving more efficiently and faster.

    Manage Your Inventory

    Use a warehouse management system to gain inventory and warehouse accuracy so you can reduce stock levels. It also provides visibility to real-time inventory, which can potentially eliminate lost product and reduce overstocks.

    Follow Up With Customers

    Customer satisfaction is often hard to measure, but it is valuable. Having the right product to deliver to customers at the right time and to the right place helps increase ROI by retaining customer loyalty. A quick follow up in these fast moving times is priceless to your clients.

    Improve Your Shipping Speed

    How many workers are picking shipments and for how many hours? Can this be lowered? How many errors occur per week in the picking process and how many hours does it take to correct one error? Eliminating error every week instantly increases your ROI, determine the savings for this process improvement.

    A few improvements will increase your ROI over time. Sometimes it is the simple changes that allow for the greatest improvements. Your company products will roll out on time, and both your customers and workers will be happy.

    For a Free Operational Audit on more ways you can approve your productivity contact us!

    CLICK HERE TO CONTACT US TODAY
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